A 30-year-old Nigerian man, James Junior Aliyu, has pleaded guilty in the United States to charges of wire fraud and money laundering after being accused of defrauding dozens of American citizens of more than $12 million.
Aliyu was first arrested in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, during a major “takedown operation” led by Interpol with help from the South African Police Service (SAPS). After his arrest, he was extradited to the United States, where he appeared in court to face federal charges.
He was not acting alone. Aliyu was one of several Nigerians involved in a Business email compromise (BEC) scheme. In this type of scam, criminals gain illegal access to business or personal email accounts, impersonate the owners, and trick victims into transferring money.
Aliyu’s scheme ran from February 2017 until at least July 2017. During this time, he and his partners hacked into email accounts belonging to individuals and companies, many of them in the United States, and used them to steal money. Federal investigators revealed that Aliyu had partners both inside the U.S. and abroad. Some of his co-conspirators lived in Maryland, where parts of the scam were carried out.
Aliyu was one of three main defendants indicted by a federal grand jury on June 24, 2019. The other two were Kosi Goodness Simon-Ebo (30) and Henry Onyedikachi Echefu (31). All three men are Nigerian citizens who were living in South Africa when the crimes took place. The indictment was unsealed in July 2022, after authorities arrested them outside the United States. All three men were later extradited to America to face justice.
Aliyu is the last of the three to plead guilty. The U.S. Department of Justice also confirmed that eight additional defendants have previously admitted guilt in related cases linked to the same conspiracy.
The announcement of Aliyu’s guilty plea was made on August 26, 2025, by Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, alongside Evan Campanella, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore. Authorities emphasized that this case demonstrates the international cooperation between U.S. law enforcement, Interpol, and South African police in the fight against global cyber crime.
